Veerle Baetens wins European Film Award

John Heldenbergh, who co-wrote the original stage play for Compagnie Cecilia, was nominated as best actor, while Felix van Groeningen was nominated for best director and (with Carl Joos) for best screenplay. Finally, the movie received a best film nomination, a category which ultimately won by Paolo Sorrentino’s La grande Bellezza.

Baetens said she wasn’t expecting to win as she was up against some of Europe’s most famous actresses, including Keira Knightly (Anna Karenina), Barbara Sukowa (Hannah Arendt), Naomi Watts (The Impossible) and Luminita Gheorghiu (Child’s Pose).

Since its première at the Ghent Film Festival in 2012, The Broken Circle Breakdown has been showered with international awards, including the Public Prize at the Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn last week, which marked its 40th award.

In accepting the award, Baetens gave thanks to her character in the film, Elise, a woman at odds with her partner in the grieving process after the loss of their child. “Playing her is what brought me here,” she said. She also thanked co-star Heldenbergh, who wrote the original stage play with his stage co-star Mieke Dobbels.

Two other Belgian films won awards at the prestigious ceremony: The prize for best short film went to Tom Van Avermaet’s Dood van een schaduw (Death of a Shadow), which stars Matthias Schoenaerts. “This is a special time for Flemish cinema,” the director said in his speech. “We are really making great strides.” Van Avermaet’s 20-minute short was this year nominated for an Oscar and has picked up awards at festivals in Leuven, Valladolid, Los Angeles and Fargo.

The European Film Award’s Young Audience Award went to Nono, het zigzagkind (The Zigzag Kid) by Belgian director Vincent Bal, who based it on a book by the Israeli author David Grossman.

www.europeanfilmawards.eu